Washed Ashore
by Margaritaville08
Summary: January 1942, a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bella's ship is torpedoed and sunk of the coast of the Pacific NW. She washes ashore on the beaches of LaPush and is found by none other than recent draftee of the US Military, Jacob Black. AH/Lmns
1. Chapter 1

So here's the deal people... I have a bunch of chapters already done, so I am going to be one of those people I hate and base the timeliness of them being posted on the amount of reviews I get. Cheap, I know... but hey let's see how it works! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight... duh. Also there are going to be derogatory terms used in this fic. It is simply for authenticity of the time period, and is by no means meant to offend anyone!

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**January 1942 (A month after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor)**

**BPOV**

I awoke with a start and was thrown off my bunk by the tremendous convulsing of the ship and a loud explosion. Screaming and panicking voices all around me followed the explosion.

What was happening?

I pushed myself off the floor, still a bit confused from being woken so suddenly. It wasn't until the shouts from above deck made themselves clear that I realized what had happened.

"We've been hit! We've been hit! Everyone put your lifejackets on! To the deck! To the deck!" The voice got louder as it passed my doorway and then continued down the hall.

I instantly jumped to action, quickly finding my coat and shoes to throw on over my nightwear and threw my lifejacket over it. Holy shit. We had been hit, torpedoed, bombed, and our ship was sinking. I looked over and saw my best friend and fellow nurse, Angela, still sleeping soundly. How the hell had she not woken up, crazy girl.

I quickly shook her awake, told her what happened and demanded her to get dressed. I could already feel the ship pitching to one side and I knew that we had to get above deck and to the lifeboats if we had any chance of surviving this.

Angela grabbed her coat and threw on her shoes and within a second we were running to get above deck along with everyone else.

When we reached the deck the sight before me made me stop in my tracks. The ship was keening to its starboard side and giant flames were shooting up from the massive hole in it's interior. Sailors were shouting orders to everyone and trying to get the lifeboats deployed as fast as possible. There was shouting and screaming and children crying.

Angela ran right by me and over to the nearest lifeboat.

"Isabella what are you doing. Don't just stand there we need to-"

What ever she had been saying was cut short by another massive explosion. The force of the explosion threw me back a good ten feet and I only stopped when I collided with the wall of the wheelhouse. The blow left me temporarily disoriented and every sound around me became muted.

I felt the heat of the flames as they licked at my skin, just inches away from where I was currently lying. I reached a hand up to my head and pulled it away to find it covered in blood. I groaned and rolled over to look for Angela. The place where she had been standing, not ten seconds ago, was now a fiery blaze, an inferno that was eating away at the steel ship as if it were made of wood.

And Angela was gone.

"No. No. No. No. Angie!"

The flames were making their way closer to me as I backed myself up against the wheelhouse wall. I had to make a decision and quick. To my left there was a massive hole in the ship, outlined by flames. Flames, so many flames, they were everywhere, slowly making there way to me. I could feel the heat of them as if they were melting off my skin.

I had nowhere to go, I was trapped.

I backed myself into a corner, flames inclosing me from all sides. I was going to die, burn to death. At least Angela's death had been quick, instant. Mine was going to slowly eat away at me.

I looked to my right and then realized that I in fact did have a choice. If I could just pick myself up I could jump over the side of the ship.

Oh yea because that wouldn't kill you either.

Once again I had to make a choice.

Risk the fall, getting sucked under by the sinking ship, the sub zero water…or burn alive.

My body made up my mind for me when the leg to my pajama bottoms caught fire and I flung myself over the side of the ship.

It seemed as if I was falling for minutes, I could feel the fire make its way up my leg, and right as I was about to cry out I hit the water. I could have sworn that every single one of my bones broke at the impact, I might as well jumped onto concrete. The icy water engulfed my body causing me to go into a temporary shock.

What I would have given for fire at that moment.

The water numbed me instantly and I started to sink, unable to move any muscle in my body. My lungs screamed at me, demanding oxygen for them to work. And just as I thought I was done for, that I would sink to the bottom of the Pacific, I started floating towards the surface. This seemed to kick start my body into action as it tried to kick and claw my way to the surface of the icy water. I made it to the surface throwing my head back and inhaling as much oxygen as I could possibly take into my lungs.

My lungs burned at the much needed oxygen as I greedily took in breaths. After fulfilling my lungs needs my brain started to take inventory of the rest of my body. I was once again frozen, floating only because of my lifejacket. Ooo so that's what had made me float to the top.

I looked around partially blinded by the salt water in my eyes. I was right next to the ship that was still engulfed in flames and sinking rapidly by the minute. I needed to get away from it, otherwise I would be sucked under and I didn't think even my lifejacket could save me from that.

Adrenaline coursed through my body as I demanded it to move, to swim away as fast as I could manage. My muscles were seizing from the cold, protesting against every moment I demanded out of them.

I kicked and clawed at the water like a child learning how to swim as I made my way as far away from the boat as I could. I stopped when I bumped into something. It was waterlogged and heavy and unmoving…a body.

I let out a little shriek at the charred body before me. The person's face unrecognizable from the burns that covered him. I noticed that he had something, some sort of floating box thing in his hand. I reached over and literally pried it out of his cold dead fingers.

The spray painted military letters on the side informed me that it was an inflatable raft and I prayed to God that it hadn't been ruined, as it's owner had, in the explosion. I said another prayer as I pulled the activation string. There was a hissing sound as the raft slowly but surely expanded. I watched as it unfolded and floated perfectly. Willing my body to move one more time I swam over to it and tried unsuccessfully to pull myself onto it.

I was too weak. Too weak to pull myself up.

"No! No! No! Please! Come on!" I whimpered as I tried again to pull my body into the flotation device.

This couldn't be happening. I had survived the explosions, the fire, the inferno, the fall, the ice cold water, and now I was going to die of hypothermia because I was too weak, too exhausted to pull myself into the god damn raft.

I started sobbing as I clung to the side of my would-be rescue boat.

I was going to die.

I couldn't feel any of my extremities, my body already numb from the chilling water.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Angela and I were supposed to still be asleep in our beds aboard the S.S. Landon, a civilian ship that was heading from Pearl Harbor to California and then to Alaska, carrying survivors and civilians back to the main land.

We were almost there too, we had already stopped in San Francisco, and we were merely making our way up the coast to get to Alaska…how did we get hit so close to the main land?

This was all wrong. I had survived the first foreign attack on American soil since the American Revolution for Christ's sake. I was not meant to die, unknown, somewhere in the Pacific. I had survived Pearl Harbor, fought tooth and nail to save as many sailors as possible on that horrible day, and this was how I was being repaid?

Heat spread through my body as I got angry. Angry at God, angry at Angela's death and angry with the Japs for starting this in the first place.

Another wave of adrenaline rushed through my body.

I was NOT going to die here.

With some strength unknown I managed to pull myself up out of the freezing water and into the raft. I lay there panting as if I had just run miles as my body curled in on its self.

I knew that I should paddle back to the wreck and look for survivors, but pulling myself up had literally taken everything out of me. My body was convulsing and I felt any strength I had left leave my body as I let the darkness overtake me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jacob POV**

I was at the cliffs, the ones that overlooked first beach, the ones that I would sit at to get away from everything. I had come here before every major decision I had made in my short lifetime. This place had been my sanctuary. My place of peace, nothing could touch me up here.

This is where I had come right after my mother died.

This is where I had screamed out at the top of my lungs at the unfairness of her death, where I had cried until I passed out from exhaustion, where I cursed her for leaving me when I was just a kid, and ultimately where I ended up feeling the closest to her out of everywhere.

Up here the real world was nonexistent to me. It was pushed to the back of my mind as I looked out at the untouched landscape that was first and second beach.

As I shifted I heard a crumpling of paper in my pocket, which forced this very real world situation back to the forefront of my mind. I sighed and stuck my hand into my pants pocket, pulling out the well-worn letter.

Selective Service System:

ORDER TO REPORT FOR INDUCTION

Those five words that would change my life forever.

Order. To. Report. For. Induction.

Induction into the armed forces, to fight in a war that I wanted no part of. To fight for a country that did nothing but oppress my own people for hundreds of years. Like they haven't taken enough from me already.

Now don't get me wrong, when the Japs bombed Pearl I was just as pissed off as the next person. I felt an unexplainable sense of nationalism for a country that really has never done anything for me. However I think it wasn't for the country, but rather those innocent people at Pearl Harbor, who had been killed in the most cowardly way imaginable while they were asleep in their beds on a peaceful Sunday morning. Hell most of the people who had died where around my age.

Would I be next?

I stared down at the letter in my hand thinking that maybe if I stared at it hard enough the words upon it would magically change, freeing me from my duties. A month since the attack and apparently it wasn't going well enough where they didn't need the draft.

I reread the damn letter again, as if I hadn't had it memorized by now.

The President of the United States,

To Mr. Jacob Black

234 Beach Road

La Push, WA 98350

GREETINGS;

I scoffed at that part. Greetings! Like they were my long lost friend or something. More like Greetings, have fun getting shot at!

The letter continued…

YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED FOR INDUCTION INTO THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

It then went on to explain when and where I was to report to. But hey at least they sent their greetings right.

I shoved the note back into my pocket and ran my hand through my hair, frustrated at having my choice in life ripped out from underneath me. I had two options; report for duty, or go to jail. I wanted neither.

I still couldn't justify fighting and most likely dying for a country that could care less about me or my well being. Hell if they actually cared they would see that I needed to stay home, to take care of my crippled father. But did they care? Nope.

I had a month. One month, thirty short days, before life as I knew it would change forever. One month until I was no longer Jacob Black, the mechanic who lived in LaPush and took care of his wheel chair ridden father, but Private Black, an expendable body that could be replaced by the next draftee to be thrown into the middle of a war zone.

I sighed and looked out towards the ocean, trying to gain some peace from the sights of my childhood. My eyes traveled along the beach, the sun was just coming up over the horizon and it wasn't raining for once. My gaze drifted over a worn driftwood log, where I had my first kiss with Cindy Lockwood to a small cave where I had first made love to Leah Clearwater, where I had finally become a man. It continued up the beach, the first rays of the sun soaking everything in a warm pink. My gaze came to a screeching halt at a form that was halfway up the beach.

What the hell was that?

It looked to be some sort of raft of some kind and was an army green in color.

Had the war really gotten that close so quick?

I quickly made my way down to the beach and jogged over to the raft.

I stopped a few yards away, kind of afraid to see the contents of it. What if there was a body.

Oh well, you will be seeing a lot of those soon enough, might as well get over the initial shock now so you don't freeze on the battlefield.

I made my way to the side of the raft and my breath hitched in my throat at the person inside.

It was a woman, curled in the fetal position, in nothing but a night set, coat, life vest and shoes. Her hair had little icicles hanging from the strands and her skin had a grayish parlor to it.

She had to be dead, she wasn't moving, and I couldn't see her chest moving up and down with breath.

I leaned down and placed my fingers to her icy cold neck just to make sure and was startled when I found a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. I quickly jumped into action and reached down to scoop her out of the raft. She was frigid to the touch and didn't even stir at my handling of her. I took off my jacket and wrapped her in it before making my way as fast as I could back to my house.

I burst through the door, startling Billy. His eyes instantly widened at the woman in my arms.

"Father…I found her on the beach in a life raft. She has a pulse but it's very weak. I don't know what to do. She is so cold, I don't know how she is still alive. What do I do?"

He hesitated only for a second before answering.

"Take her into your room, and strip her down. She needs to get out of those wet clothing. Then you need to provide as much body heat as possible. Lay as close to her as possible with your clothes off."

"What?"

"Don't question me on this Jacob just do it. We have to incorporate heat back into her body very slowly so all the blood doesn't rush back into her heart too quickly, causing it to stop."

"But Father-"

"Jacob this is a matter of life and death. Just do it! I am going to call Old Quil and have him bring Leanne down. Hopefully she will have an easier cure."

I brought the mystery woman into my room and carefully set her down on the bed. I hurriedly stripped her of her clothing, leaving her in her uh girdle, thing, and knickers. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed under the heavy covers with her, pulling her gently so she was flush against me. I shivered as her ice cold skin came in contact with mine and encircled my arms around her, trying to give her as much of my body heat as possible.

I could feel her temperature slowly increasing after a couple minutes. Her breath was still extremely shallow and her pulse weak, but right now I could only be concerned with warming her back up. Hypothermia could be deadly if not treated properly.

Another half hour went by and she was slowly but surely gaining color back into her skin. It had gone from a deadly grey to a ghostly white, but her lips had faded from the blue color they were when I pulled her out of the raft to a light pink and I took that as progress.

Billy came wheeling in followed by Old Quil and Leanne, our tribe's medicine woman.

I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, after all I was almost naked with an almost naked white woman in my bed. If they noticed my embarrassment they paid no mind to it and instantly set about trying to warm the woman up even more.

Leanne went about her ritual with her chanting and herbal blessings. Warm water bottles were placed on the side of the woman I wasn't on.

She searched the woman from her head down to her feet and clucked her tongue a little at something she saw on the woman's leg. I looked down to see her wrapping a bandage around the woman's calf.

"She has a nasty burn on her leg. The salt water cleansed the wound, but we need to ensure that it does not get infected."

She placed some sort of herb in the woman's mouth and declared that it would rid the body of the cold clutches that were inside the woman. I know it's my heritage but I couldn't help but be a little skeptical and wondered if we should take her to a real hospital with real doctors. Leanne must have noticed the skepticism in my face.

"Jacob. You must believe with your entire heart and soul in our heritage and the spirits. They will be the ultimate deciders in this woman's fate."

I simply nodded my head and pulled her closer to me, reaching out to the spirits to save the innocent soul next to me.


	3. Chapter 3

BPOV

I came to and realized that I wasn't dead, because if I were dead I wouldn't be feeling this pain right now. My body ached in places I didn't even know it could ache. I could feel the dried salt from the water sticking to my skin everywhere and a thin coat made my eyelids stick together. I pried them open and tried to take in my surroundings as best as possible without moving the rest of my pain ridden body. From what I could tell I was in a house, there was a roof over my head, and I was lying on a bed.

Well that sure beats the heck out of a raft in the middle of the ocean.

The right side of my body was significantly warmer than the left and I figured the radiator must be on that side. My throat was extremely dry and I decided to try and move so I could look around the room better. I went to go move my feet only to realize that I couldn't feel them. That's when I panicked.

I hastily forced myself to sit up, causing all the blood to rush out of my head, making me extremely dizzy. I grunted as I tried to get my bearings and I felt the bed shift next to me. Once the room stopped spinning I looked over to my right and was met by a man, a shirtless man, stirring from sleep next to me. I only then realized that he had one arm thrown over my waist.

I tried to scream but the only sound that made its way out of my mouth was a pathetic wheezing. I watched as his eyes fluttered open, before snapping wide open when he looked at me. He quickly sat up and I shifted myself as far away from this half naked stranger as possible.

My movement caused the room to start spinning again and I groaned and clutched my head with my hands, willing the people that were currently jack hammering my brain to let up for a bit.

I felt the bed shift and then a warm hand on my shoulder, pressing me back into the bed. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on but couldn't thanks to the salt water I had inhaled.

"You need to lay back down and rest. Your body has been through much in the past couple of days and needs to recuperate." I tried to speak again only for it to come out as a raspy noise. I wrinkled my nose in distaste at my inability to communicate causing him to chuckle a little.

"I'll go get you some water."

He was back within the minute with a glass of water and a straw. I noticed that he had thrown on a pair of pants and a shirt as well. He held it out to me and I gulped it down greedily as it soothed the burn in my throat. After I had finished the glass I attempted to talk again.

"What happened?" My voice was still raspy, but could be easily understood.

"I found you in a life raft washed up at the beach. When I got to you I thought you were dead, you were so cold, but I felt that you had a pulse so I brought you back here and we got you warmed up."

"Is that why you were in bed with me?"

He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um yea. We needed to get your body temperature up. You are lucky to be alive. We thought that the hypothermia was too far gone to stop."

"Is that why I can't feel my toes?"

"Probably. I wouldn't worry too much about it though, Leanne said you should regain full feeling within a week."

"Oh and who is Leanne?"

"She is our tribe's medicine woman."

"Tribe?"

"Yes ma'am. You washed up in LaPush, it's a small Indian reservation on the northwest coast of Washington."

I nodded as I took in this information. I guess we really weren't that far from the mainland when we got hit.

"I was on my way from Pearl Harbor. We had just stopped in San Francisco and were on our way to Alaska when we got hit."

"What do you mean?"

Anger flooded through my veins as I recalled that night. It had been a clearly marked civilian ship. It hadn't been carrying military supplies or even troops, and yet the Japs didn't care. They torpedoed it anyway.

"I mean that I was woken up in the middle of the night on my civilian ship to find that a giant hole had been blown into the side of it. Hundreds of people dead, burned alive. Then just as Angela and I…oh god Angela." Tears flooded my eyes at the thought of my friend. Gone, in a second, in a sea of flames.

I quietly sobbed as the man stood there awkwardly before coming and sitting down on the bed next to me.

He placed his hand on mine and I was startled at the spark that jumped between our skin. He must have felt it too because he quickly pulled his hand back.

"She's dead. And not only her. All those people on that ship, the women, the injured sailors from Pearl, and the children."

I sobbed some more as I thought about all the innocent lives lost. For the first time since the attack I was able to comprehend the amount of lives lost that one night. Most people had likely gone down with the ship, trapped in their quarters. Some had probably burned alive, slowly, as was almost my fate that night. No one on that ship deserved to be killed in such a cowardly act. It seemed unfair, that these people had survived the most horrendous attack on American soil to date, but yet they die in their beds, on their way to safety.

We sat there quietly for a while as I sifted through the thoughts in my head. The man next to me fidgeted slightly at the silence. After getting myself under control I turned to him.

"So what is the name of the man that I owe my life to?"

He smiled a little before extending his hand.

"Jacob Black ma'am." I grasped his hand in mine and blushed as he brought it to his lips. That spark was back tenfold.

"Isabella Swan."

"Well Isabella, you're safe now. You must be starving would you like something to eat?"

My stomach growled before I could answer and I blushed, the warmth in my cheeks a nice reminder that I was alive. Jacob laughed and held his hand out to help me out of the bed. I got up slowly, my body still in pain, and unused to the weird numbness in my feet.

Once up I realized that I was dressed in a different night set and before I could ask Jacob answered my question for me.

"We needed to get you out of your wet clothes. They were frozen. In uh, in order to warm you up and stop all your blood from rushing back to your heart too fast we, um I, had to lay next to you, so you could gradually get warm from my body heat."

He looked embarrassed and it sunk into my mind what he had said. I was a nurse; I knew the effects of hypothermia and how to cure them.

"Go figure the first time I'm naked with a guy and I'm unconscious for it."

Jacob's eyes comically bugged out of his head at my comment and he started stuttering.

"Oh-um-no…no we weren't naked. Just uh, in our undergarments, and I swear I didn't…I mean I wouldn't-"

I cut him off amused at his obvious distress.

"Jacob don't worry about it. I know what had to be done, I am eternally grateful for your actions. I would be dead if it weren't for you. Thank you."

He nodded and helped me slip into a robe before leading me the short distance to the kitchen. There was an older man with long graying hair in a wheelchair at the table. He looked up and gave a tight smile when Jacob sat me down across from him.

"Hello I am Billy Black, Jacob's father." I held my hand out to him before responding.

"Isabella Swan." My voice was still raspy but I put as much strength as I could muster into it. The man before me screamed authority and I was not going to come across as weak.

"So Isabella, what happened that made you wash ashore upon our beaches?"

"Well sir, I was on a passenger ship en route to Anchorage, Alaska. We were coming from Pearl Harbor carrying survivors and travelers. We had already made a stop in San Francisco and weren't more than a couple days out when we got torpedoed. No doubt by the Japs, I doubt the Germans would have any U-Boats all the way in the Pacific Northwest."

I clenched my hands atop the table as the anger once again spread through me.

"It was the middle of the night when they hit us. It all happened so fast and before I knew it I had to make a choice, stay on the ship and burn alive or chance the freezing water. I managed to get a hold of a raft once I got into the water and after I got in I lost consciousness."

Billy simply raised his eyebrows at my explanation. I didn't know if I should take his expression at him being impressed or disappointed so I merely shrugged it off.

"Um if you don't mind me asking, where exactly am I?"

"You are in LaPush Washington. It is a small Indian reservation in the northwest corner of the state."

I nodded my head and looked Billy straight in the eyes.

"I want to express my sincere gratitude to you and your son for helping me. I owe you both my life."

"It was no trouble at all Isabella. I am glad that we were able to care for you in time. If you don't mind me asking, why were you aboard a ship headed to Alaska out of all places?"

"Well you see Mr. Black-"

"Please Isabella, you may call me Billy." I smiled a little before continuing.

"Well you see Billy, I was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attacks."

I heard him take in an uneasy breath before I continued.

"I was there for everything. Now that I look back on it I am thoroughly surprised that I managed to survive it all. It seemed that the Japs were attacking us from every angle. I lost so many friends over the course of a few hours it almost seemed impossible."

I took a deep breath before continuing.

"I saw things that Sunday morning that I would never wish upon anyone. The destruction, the death, it was everywhere. And yet, I couldn't dwell on it. I had a job to do. I was given the task of sorting through the injured. Declaring whether or not they could be saved or not. To have that type of weight so suddenly thrown upon your shoulders, to literally be given the hand of God, to have to decide who lives and who dies…well there is nothing in this world that can come close to describing how that feels."

I looked up at Billy who seemed to be caught in between loosing himself in my story and staying distant and locked away from the words coming out of my mouth.

"That one day seemed to stretch on for eternity. The sheer amount of people that came into the hospital was overwhelming. We ran out of supplies within the first hour. They were bringing in the injured faster than we could help them, but we did the best that we could with what we had."

I looked up at Jake who met my eyes. His were filled with grief, as if he were reliving the moment with me.

"The weeks following the attack were just as hectic, and after everything had settled down they gave us a choice of where we were to be stationed. My friend Angela and I decided on Anchorage, because after Pearl…well, we wanted to be as far away from the war as possible. I know that sounds cowardly, but in the course of one day we managed to see more action than other nurses would in their entire life. While we were en route to Anchorage we got torpedoed and that's how I ended up here."

Billy stayed silent for a long while after my story and I found myself fidgeting in my seat, for some reason unbeknownst to me I wanted to gain this man's acceptance.

"Well, you certainly have been through a lot. I understand that you must have lost any belongings and legal documents with the ship, am I correct?"

"Yes sir. I didn't have a lot to begin with, but all my legal documentation went down with the ship."

"Well Isabella, you are more than welcome to reside here until you are able to sort things out. You seem to fit into my daughter, Rebecca's, clothes relatively well. After breakfast Jacob will get you something to change into."

I sat speechless at the kindness this stranger was putting forth. I quickly cleared my throat.

"Thank you Mr. Black. You are too kind. I will try to get myself situated and be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Like I said, please call me Billy. Mr. Black makes me seem old. And you are of no trouble at all Isabella, it is the least I can do for someone who worked so hard to save lives at Pearl."

"I was only doing my job sir."

Billy gave me a smile before turning to his son.

"Jacob, get the woman some breakfast would you? I am headed over to Harry's."

"Sure thing pop."

Billy made his exit and Jacob made his way to the refrigerator. I took this time to truly look at the man who had saved my life. I had been so caught up in finding out what happened and where I ended up that I never got a good chance to take him in.

His movements around the kitchen were lithe and graceful, but at the same time extremely masculine. My eyes traveled up his strong legs, to narrow hips, and up to the strong expanse of his back. His long black hair was pulled back, fastened by a cord of some sorts. His shoulders were wide and lead to two muscular arms. The russet color of his skin and the muscles that lay underneath were enhanced even more by the white sleeveless form-fitting top he had on.

When he turned around to go to the stove I was able to study the front of him. His upper body had a V shape to it and he looked just as strong from this point of view as he did from the back. I trailed my gaze over his chest and up to his neck, where muscles were clearly visible beneath that gorgeous skin.

He had an extremely strong jaw line, and that seemed to be where he carried any tension he had. His lips were full and pouty and his nose was…well it was perfect.

Good grief Isabella, get a hold on your self!

He had the signature high cheekbones that were associated with Indian people and they accented his gorgeous brown eyes beautifully. The man was truly a work of art.

I blushed at my inappropriate thoughts about the stranger who had saved me.

I didn't even know anything about this man, besides that his name is Jacob Black, and here I am thinking he is handsome.

I immediately put a halt to my thoughts and got out of my seat to help him prepare my breakfast.

"Here let me help." I reached for an egg at the same time he did causing our hands to meet. We both jumped back at the shock that jumped between us where we touched. The same spark that we had both felt when he laid his hand on mine this morning.

"Please Isabella, sit down, you must still be worn out. I can handle cooking up a few eggs."

He smiled at me and I instantly felt my body heat spike. A blush flooded my cheeks and I gave him a smile and a nod before sitting back down.

"So Jacob, you know all about me but I know nothing about my savior besides his name."

He smiled at me before turning back to the stove, stirring the eggs in the pan.

"Well there really isn't much to know. I've spent my entire life in LaPush, and that's the way I planned on it staying." His voice got a sharp edge to it at the end.

"Anyway, I work at an auto shop that one of the white men owns over in Forks. I fix up the cars that come in. I've always love tinkering with things, ever since I was a child I have been fascinated with cars so I jumped on the opportunity to work on them full time. The pay is decent, but its easy work and convenient for me to be around if my father ever needs me."

"That is amazing. Cars are so complicated to me, all the separate parts working in perfect time with another, I cant imagine having the patience to try and figure out what is wrong with some little part. It seems so complicated!"

He laughed a little before responding.

"Fixing cars is easy, it seems to be people that you need a manual for."

Not only was this man handsome, but he was emotionally insightful as well.

"Besides, I highly doubt I could be able to perform the tasks that you do. All of that blood and bodily fluids, that's pretty nasty to me," he chuckled.

"Ah yes to you it may be, but I have been around things like that my entire life. My mother was a nurse as well and my father a police chief so I heard and saw my fair share of gruesome sights and situations."

"So your mother must be proud that you are following in her footsteps."

I took an uneasy breath, the subject of my parents still difficult to vocalize after all these years.

"I'm sure she would be."

Jacob looked confused for a second before recognition flashed across his face and he instantly looked apologetic.

"Oh. I'm sorry Isabella, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no. It's okay Jacob. My parents were both killed in a robbery in New York City three years ago. Being a police chief, my father was one of only a few people to have a job. The stock market crash left everyone out of work and money. New York was hit harder than most, most of our family friends invested their entire life savings in the market and when it went down they lost everything. My parents only had some of their savings invested and we were able to scrape by with what we had left. Policemen were needed, especially during the depression so my father was able to continue working. Him and my mother were walking home from the grocers when they were held up at gunpoint and killed for the food they were bringing home."

Jacob's eyes widened in shock at my recounting.

"I am sorry Isabella."

"Thank you Jacob. I know that Rene and Charlie would be proud of me if they could see me today."

"I don't doubt it."

Jacob placed a plate filled to the brim with eggs, bacon and toast in front of me. I gave him an incredulous look at the mass amount of food in front of me and he just laughed and set down a fork and a knife.

"Go on eat. I know you must be starving."

"I am, but this amount of food could feed a horse!"

He tilted his head back and let out a full belly laugh, the sound of which sent little shockwaves across my nerve endings. I had never heard a laugh so genuine in my entire life.

"Please Isabella, just eat. What ever you don't finish I will just have. I can always eat."

I dug into the plate; food had never tasted so good. I didn't realize how hungry I was until the food started to settle in my stomach and it gave a content rumble at finally being fed.

"This is delicious Jacob."

"Please, it's just eggs and sausage."

"Well it beats the heck out of what they served on the ship."

Jacob just smiled at me as I continued to shovel more food in my mouth. Elegant I know, but I couldn't be bothered as I ate forkful after forkful.

When I had finally eaten to the point of my stomach exploding I set down my fork and took a deep content sigh. I heard Jake laugh and I looked up at him to see him eying my plate. When I looked down I realized that it had, figuratively, been licked clean.

I blushed down to the roots of my hair as he chuckled at me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't leave any for you!"

"Don't worry about it. I really am not that hungry anyways. I'm not much of a breakfast guy."

Jacob took my plate and placed it in the sink before sitting down across from me.

"So Bella, would you feel up to walking out to the garage? I am working on a new car, well it's not exactly new but-"

"What did you say?"

"That the car wasn't new?"

"No, no, before that. What did you just call me?"

Jacob turned his head and blushed a little before responding.

"Um Bella. It's just that Isabella is so long and I just thought that it would be easier to say, and its not that I don't like the name Isabella its just, uh-"

I cut him off by placing my right hand atop his left on the table. There were those damn shocks again.

"Jacob. I love it. I have never had a nickname before and Bella seems very suitable. I like it." I smiled at him, causing his sunshine smile to increase even more.

"Although since you made up a nickname for me I think its only fair if I'm able to shorten your name as well. So Jake it is then!"

He laughed a little and I realized that my hand was still atop of his, and for some reason I didn't want to move it away.

"So I guess that's it then huh? Jake and Bella."

I smiled and nodded.

"Jake and Bella."


End file.
